England in UAE: Moeen Ali fronts up to short ball in final session
Former England batsman Robert Key praises all-rounder...
Wednesday 14 October 2015 16:34, UK
England's fight in the final session on day two of the first Test against Pakistan was pleasing, particularly Moeen Ali's start with the bat, says Robert Key.
Moeen scored only 15 from 65 deliveries as England reached stumps 56-0, still trailing Pakistan by 467 in Abu Dhabi.
But having just bowled 30 wicketless overs in testing conditions, Moeen stood up brilliantly to a barrage of short-pitched bowling by the hosts, said former England batsman Key.
"Mentally that was a really good win for England, Moeen in particular," said Key. "He played against his natural game a little bit but has answered all the questions that have been thrown at him so far.
"As a batsman the one thing you don't want to be known for is not being able to play the short ball, because word will get around and people will aim for your head.
"And Even though this pitch is slow, it doesn't mean it's easier to play short-pitched bowling, but he just watched the ball and let it go by.
"Wahab Riaz showed a bit of pace in that final session and Moeen did brilliantly to battle through.
"Had England gone out there and lost a few early wickets to the new ball they'd really be in trouble, even if it is a flat deck.
Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior echoed Key's sentiments while also commending England's attitude as a whole in the final session of the day after the side had gone wicketless up until tea.
Ben Stokes (4-57) took three wickets as Pakistan fell from 499-4 to 523-8 after the interval, forcing them to declare sooner perhaps than they would have liked to.
"Moeen's method and gameplan were brilliant," said Prior. "Especially considering he only had 10 minutes between being in the field to getting that batting-head on.
"And with knowing that he was going to get a lot of short-pitched bowling, he could have forgotten to take care of the fuller-length delivery, but he was quickly on the front-foot, stepping into it and playing with a nice straight bat.
"I thought how England finished the day was brilliant, particularly their spell in the field. It's very easy for a team after being in the field for 140-odd overs at that point to lose your way a little bit, and Pakistan could quite easily have got 600-plus.
"But you could see with one of the first balls after tea, was a big lbw appeal from Stuart Broad. It showed they were up for it and credit to Stokes for a lot of hard work, picking up four wickets."
Live Test Cricket
Coverage of the first Test between Pakistan and England continues with day three live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 6.30am on Thursday.
